Friday 27 September 2013

b.Strategy - The Magic Flu

The last part is here:   Capital - Energy Units

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease (flu). Between November 2002 and July 2003, an outbreak of SARS in Southern China caused an eventual 8,273 cases and 775 deaths reported in multiple countries with the majority of cases in Hong Kong (9.6% fatality rate) according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Within weeks, SARS spread from Hong Kong to infect individuals in 37 countries in early 2003.

During that time, all airports were closed to persons with high fever and eventually the disease was extinguished. SARS had a brilliant, but short life history.

Different humans have different strategies to life. Many like to rush about life and try to achieve as much as possible. But, sadly, such individuals later developed poor health and stopped abruptly their ambitions. People like Yue Fei, Steve Jobs and Genghis Khan.

I would like to re-enact my theory of man:   The length of man is fixed, i.e., a man's life is like a fixed length candle, you can choose to lit brightly, everyone will notice you, but you will burn more fuel and have a much shortened life. If instead you choose to burn it slowly, your life will lack luster and no one will ever notice your existence. But, you will have extremely long life.

Same thing for flu viruses, if a flu virus is vicious, it goes around killing every host it contacts, very soon the hosts will gang-up together and remove that vicious virus. If the virus is weaker, can easily be removed by medical treatment and it doesn't kill its host, chances are that the host is willing to tolerate some level of the viral infection. Such co-existence will ensure the survival of the virus strain.

In the Yue Fei's story, Yue Fei didn't know that his boss only wants to stay boss, but, yet Yue fei insisted on saving the boss' fathers from the Manchurians. If this is ever allowed to happen, the boss' captured fathers would return and retake the throne from the boss. How can the current boss' future be threathened by Yue Fei? Hence, Yue Fei was brought to death. Thus, ended his lustrous, but very short life. His enemies were many, fast and furious.  

In the Genghis Khan's story, Genghis Khan is a person who remembered who has wronged him. He went on to kill every one that opposed him in the path. He and his son then only managed to rule the Yuen empire for a very short time. His enemies were many, fast and furious.  

In the Steve Jobs' story, Steve was a perfectionist which is very good for the business but very bad for his health. He attended every single detail to perfection, he worked very long hours and had very little sleep. He got cancer and died very young. More than one-third of his life was lobed off. His enemies were many, fast and furious.  

To sum, we have to behave like the most successful virus: Not be too vicious. A virus has to a certain extent be vicious, i.e., it must be able to break down the host's defence system, procreate and spread. Yet, at the same time, it can be contained using some strong medication. Somehow, we must be like dandelion (蒲公英), cheap, easy to grow, very deeply rooted, fast to spread and extremely hard to kill. Yet, it never grows tall, in fact it just lies very flat on the ground, readily to be trampled upon. No shame at that.

Don't learn from wisdom of man, learn from nature and tengri. Nature is billions of years old, it is infinitely wiser than man.

As a fresh immigrant, do the same. You will be given a chance to really fight another day.

Thursday 26 September 2013

p.Show - 精忠岳飞 (Part 2)

The last part is here:   Show - 精忠岳飞 (Part 1)

This is really a long, long show. In the show, it showed Yue Fei as someone who truly loved his middle kingdom and wanted to win back his land from the Manchurians, hence, he wrote the famous four words: "还我河山" (return me river hill).

He was very single-minded in his task. 

Finally, Yue Fei received the 'Twelfth Golden Edict' [from the emperor calling him back to the capital], which if ignored meant banishment. Patriotism demanded that he obey. On his way back to the capital he stopped to rest at a pavilion. Qin Hui anticipated Yue Fei's route and sent some men to lie in wait. When Yue Fei arrived, Qin's men ambushed and murdered him. Just 39 years old, Yue Fei like many good men in history (such as Genghis Khan and Steve Jobs), had a swift, brilliant career, then died brutally while still young.

This year has been a good year for me. Now into the autumn period, I had lots of time to reflect what I have done for my entire life: The complete frustration that I was robbed of my rightful inheritance. Surprisingly, 还我河山 aptly described my feelings all this while. The absolute fervour in fighting back and reclaiming my rightful throne is intense. Now I know where my frustration lied. I didn't know before, but now I know.

It is that deep-set need to reclaim what's rightfully mine. With this new found understanding, I am now better at directing this frustration into an energetic force to my deploy.

But, I am not interested in working so hard that I will die young like Yue Fei, Genghis Khan nor Steve Jobs. One good thing that works in my favour is that I do have lots of very good partners having the same motivation as I do. Let me therefore acquire more land to accommodate their ambitions. Every journey makes me more and more energetic in a good way. Nice.

My golden chariot is now waiting outside for me to embark on my next journey - The Land of the Crescent Lake.  (._.)

I implore you to watch the show ...

Tuesday 24 September 2013

p.Show - 精忠岳飞

The last part is here:   Show - Jobs (乔布斯)

The show is here:   精忠岳飞

满江红   (南宋)岳飛(1103-1141)
怒髮衝冠 憑欄處瀟瀟雨歇
抬望眼 仰天長嘯 壯懷激烈
三十功名塵與土
八千里路雲和月
莫等閒白了少年頭空悲切

靖康恥 猶未雪
臣子恨 何時滅
駕長車踏破賀蘭山缺
壯志飢餐胡虜肉
笑談渴飲匈奴血
待從頭收拾舊山河 朝天闕

Yue Fei (1103-1141)
Wrath stood my hair to throw off my hat
On railings I leaned 
Seeing the rain ceased 
I raised my eyes high 
To the sky I crooned long and high 
How my patriotic devotion was denied 
To dust and earth my thirty- year achievements in arms have now returned 
Together with eighty thousand li of cloud and moon 
Youthful wills must not be wasted in greying 
Forever regret 

Humiliation by a capital in defeat is not yet put at bay 
A general’s hate its vengeance must not be delivered in delay 
I will ride my chariot again 
To break through the He Lan Mountain pass 
Let’s realize our aspirations to dine with the enemy’s flesh for meat 
With the Hun’s blood we quench our thirsts in laughter and heat 
Whence we recover our lost land in our own hands 
‘Tis time we face the royal court in army ranks

小重山   (南宋)岳飛(1103-1141)
昨夜寒蛩不住鳴
驚回千里夢 已三更
起來獨自繞階行
人悄悄 簾外月朧明

白首為功名
舊山松竹老 阻歸程
欲將心事付瑤琴
知音少 弦斷有誰聽

Yue Fei (1103-1141)
Incessantly autumn crickets sounded through the night 
Breaking my dream a thousand li my home nigh 
‘Twas well after midnight 
Up alone I paced the yard round and round 
Not a soul around 
By the window the moon was bright

For glory I paid with hair grey in tow 
The bamboos and pines at home must have grown old 
Homebound journey is on hold 
To my lute I wish to confide what’s in my mind 
No Listener 
Who would hear broken strings speaking feelings of the mind

The show is to recreate the love of middle kingdom by one man.

The life of an immigrant is never easy. There are many regrets and many mis-steps. 

Regret that all the ones we hold dear are not with us. Regret that for every passing festival we eat alone. Regret that we no longer share the same mother tongue. Regret that I am free, they are not. Regret that they are dying little by little.

Mis-step that none of the new acquaintances are true. Mis-step that all our skills are not put to good use. Mis-step that we are cheated at every turn. Mis-step that we are robbers of the locals. Mis-step that we are willing to integrate but the locals are not willing to accept.

At these very interesting times, we are movers and shakers. There are great opportunities await us. There are great adventures await us. Let's all go on a journey - even if it is a journey of no return - I will still have no regrets. I count not how many obstacles, I count not the price. I count not the sands of time. I shall witness life once more.

Let's enjoy the show ...

Monday 23 September 2013

b.Capital - Time Units

The last part is here:   Capital - Energy Units 

My partner-in-crime asked me a difficult question today:   We must exploit the factor of time units.  

For time immemorial, my partner-in-crime and I have been grappling with the problem of cash. We resisted borrowing from anyone for a long, long time. But, we always ended borrowing in times of distress. For each borrowing, we always pay back in double the time and using double the effort. This caused a great loss of progress and a great deal more chance for competition to catch us. Fortunately, we lasted.

So a day in once upon a time, my partner-in-crime suggested that we exploit the time units, i.e., we start employing people to do our work. The progress was tremendous and we made lots of money in a very short time. But, we missed out on the quality control. The people that we employed were very slipshot in their work and delivery. After a while, our customers started to complain about the shody work output and started to shun us.  Initially, customers bought from us was because we were symbol of quality. But, once they consumed and realized that our quality sucked. We went downhill all the way. It took us 5 good years to repair that damage and regain the confidence of customers again.Exploiting the time units is not an easy task.

Just watch the movie on Steve Jobs, you would realize you need more than just employees to do a good job. You need passion. The whites tried to do it by giving employee shares, founder's share, share options, profit-sharing, and etc. But, even at this time and age, Steve Jobs still had to fire everyone and restart from ground up.

What my partner-in-crime gave me was indeed a very, very hard question. How to exploit the time units effectively? This is slippery. Done right, we fly. Done wrong, we are dead, like Nokia, Microsoft and yahoo. But, if we don't try to exploit these time units, we will never be very big. Once we have the cash units, the only next step is exploiting the time units.

The answer is not yet fully established by me.

But, I do know a good start, We must look at strong companies that are at least 200 years old. Let's look at the story of Kikkoman:

During the hundred years from the mid-seventeenth century to the mid-eighteenth century, soy sauce production led by the Mogi and Takanashi families prospered in the city of Noda, located in Chiba Prefecture. This is where Kikkoman was born.

Noda is located on the Kanto plain, once one of the largest production centers for soybeans and wheat. It was easy to secure the necessary workforce in this region, owing to its growing population following on the establishment of nearby Edo (today’s Tokyo) as the capital of Japan. Besides its geographic advantages, boat transport had developed in Noda, which was blessed with two major waterways: the Tone and Edo rivers. The transportation of ingredients was thus facilitated, while manufactured products could be delivered to Edo for mass consumption. Based on historical documents, nineteen soy sauce brewers organized an association in Noda to ship soy sauce mainly to Edo. By the mid-nineteenth century, Noda had become the largest soy sauce producer in the Kanto region. 

In 1917, the Mogi family, the Takanashi family and the Horikiri family merged their businesses to form Noda Shoyu Co., Ltd. In 1964, Noda Shoyu Co., Ltd. changed its corporate name to Kikkoman Shoyu Co., Ltd. In 1980, this trade name was altered to the company’s current name: Kikkoman Corporation.

"Make Haste Slowly" was a show about Kikkoman, after the company's motto, and alludes not only to its 300-year history, but its six-month brewing process that, according to Kikkoman's site, dates back to feudal Japan. The process involves fermenting soy beans, wheat, salt, water and a koji mold. The mixture, called moromi, is aged for several months before being pressed, refined, bottled and shipped. Kikkoman's site also states that the company was founded by a woman, "in a time when women didn't start companies." 

When I was younger, I was invited to join in a discussion with the boss of a Kikkoman factory and a chinaman consultant who specialised in fermentation. The consultant claimed that he could cut fermentation period to only 10 days. Immediately the boss' face turned black and the meeting ended in less than 10 minutes.

The consultant simply didn't know why the short meeting. He didn't realize that good things only come slowly. I was humbled by the meeting. Although I have zero respect for neither Japanese nor the chinaman, the company was indeed still a force to contemplate with.

The time units can therefore be established only after we have finalized the quality aspect of the products.

I still have much to learn. Growing is always good if not great, but growing at the expense of quality is death.

Sunday 22 September 2013

b.Show - Jobs (乔布斯)

The last part is here:   Shows - Mongol (蒙古王) and 止杀令 

The show is here:   Jobs (乔布斯)

This is one of the most important shows that you must watch.

Let's not concentrate on his negativity. To be great, he needs to be an asshole. Doing business is a battle that will consume your entire life. If not careful, even if your enemies didn't consume you yet, it might then consume you with the death sentence - cancer. Therefore, never go into battle unless you are absolutely clear about what you want to achieve. Do your temple studies.

I am not saying you must be a bastard when doing business. What I am driving at is You must never look down on what ugliness can be brought against you when you are down and out. There is simply no charity show.

What Steve Jobs has done is absolutely correct. He must be. He made his company the most valuable company in the world in 2011-2012. He never fight the market, he fought only himself. He would not bring to this world any sub-standard products. He only wants the very best (sometimes, he even steal the best for you). That is the most important aspect of business - quality and of course, quality includes creativity. Lot of businesses failed because they are trying to be the same as the others, but try to be cheaper and quicker at it. Herein lies the paradox - how can something be good and yet can be constructed at a lower cost than the existing products? You are assuming the rest of the playing field are dumb. I am afraid that can hardly happen. You must assume your competition to be smart, if not smarter than you, only then will you find the best way. The mantra about Cheaper, Bet­ter, Faster obviously speaks ill of the originator. He was quite dumb and clueless about business.

I noticed a deep link between Steve Jobs and Genghis Khan. Both were enslaved by their companies. Both were very ambitious. Both achieved super greatness within a very short time. Both died at the same young age. Both legacies didn't last. I should not discuss further on this point. I leave it as an exercise for the young minds to practise. The question is: Why didn't the legacies last?

It was the mantra of quality that I have been practising for the last umpteen years. I can tell you with no uncertainty. It works 100% of the time. With quality, price will come later.

Steve Jobs has burnt his life force to bring us the goodies. But, I don't wish to die at age 64. I do believe there is however a better way. (._.)

Let's enjoy the show ...

Wednesday 18 September 2013

g.Shows - Mongol (蒙古王) and 止杀令

The last part is here:   An unexpected Guest - Bubble Tea

The shows are here:   Mongol (蒙古王)   and   止杀令
The description is here:   Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan was enslaved at a tender age of 9 by his own tribesmen, denied of his rightful place as khan of his tribe. Over the next 25-30 years, he struggled and only claimed his prize at 35-40 yo. He died approximately 65 yo. He went on a journey not knowing if he wins or loses. His bitter experience of enslavery from childhood to very senior adulthood caused him to kill over 40 million people. His murderous conquests killed so many people that huge swathes of cultivated land returned to forest. Do note that to be successful, you need to apply 10-25 years of your life on one single quest. 

The Mongol Warlord's promise of terror and mass extermination of anyone opposing him was a well-tested Mongol tactic. The alternative to submission was total war: if refused, Mongol leaders ordered the collective slaughter of populations and destruction of property, as the source of oppressive evil. The success of Mongol tactics hinged on fear: to induce capitulation amongst enemy populations. Although perceived as being bloodthirsty, the Mongol strategy of "surrender or die" still recognized that conquest by capitulation was more desirable than being forced to continually expend soldiers, food, and money to fight every army and sack every town and city along the campaign's route.

***

Lotus asked, "My dearest King, you looked extremely tired today. Ever since you returned from white crane sister's palace, you don't look your usual self."

I replied, "I am concerned over white crane's quest of the Land of Crescent Lake. Not only I have external worries, I have to contend with spies from within. I am not at rest."

Lotus said, "I am afraid white crane sister is right. With land, a farmer would use the renewable energy from the sun to grow plants and rear animals. When the produce was plenty, the farmer would employ help to till the land. Some smart helpers would produce cute little tools which the farmer would use to reduce his backaches. These little blacksmiths later branched out to become artisans and craftsmen building all kinds of things such as buildings and roads for the farm and helpers. These helpers later became popularly known as doctors, mechanics, technicians, engineers and architects. As the sheep and cattle became too numerous, some helpers called themselves bin-counters (or accountants) and assisted the farmer in keeping track of his sheep and properties. Over time, due its rich produce, the farm was frequently raided by robbers and thieves. The farmer then started to have some helpers to double-up as security. At the same time, some highlanders started to organize themselves and called themselves the high-leaders and law-makers. These were none other than the robbers themselves known by their other name. They would exhort high fees in the name of taxes in return for the peace in producing plants and animals. Other helpers branched out to provide sex and night clubs for the tired and weary."

"Other land owners might not like the farmer's way. They started to sack the land for its non-renewable mineral deposits and oil reserves. This, however, was not sustainable. Sooner or later, the land would be devoid of its valuable deposits and rendered itself worthless."

"What is sustainable is therefore only the daily energy provided by the sun. If the need of the people around the land is higher than that of the produce of the land, war will form. The answer to this question however is sacred." She finally smiled.

Lotus came from a humble background. her education level was not high. But, through various encounters, she has matured as a competent gal, full of confidence and willingness to lead. To tread where most men fear. Indeed, she is now a competent war councillor. She has taken her place as a constant companion to me. Her only need is for me to give her a son and wanted nothing else. She called it the king's ransom. I have no end of fun thinking about this king's ransom.

I laughed and interjected, "You mean the wicked city of rats in that fucken little island?"

Lotus smiled, "Yes. My lord. That rat city will fail as there is no way they can find a way out of the resource problem. If they commandeer no resource, they will have to eat each other for food. One simply has to give way to the grim reality."

I was quiet.

With a far straighter face than usual, Lotus said, "My dear Sire. I know you were once a princeling forced to go into exile by the king of that fucken little island. You were penniless and forsaken. But, a princeling liken the ugly duckling would one day become a swan. Huge and majestic. You might now be King of nothing. But, you remained a king's worth. Your place is decreed by Tengri (长生天). It will come to pass. This battle of the Land of the Crescent Lake is only but one of the many battles to be fought by you and you alone. You have no choice."

I asked, "Haven't I have enough?"

She replied, "That is if you think your limit is reached."

The world has forgotten that I was once a princeling from a little island in the sun. She didn't. Such a reminder only serves to strengthen my resolve to take up arms once again. I am a true warlord of the mythical east.

I sighed ...

Let's enjoy the shows ...

ps:   What if our own land is instead invaded, what should we do? The complete answer belongs to the private key. However, part of the complete answer is already enshrined in the many essays written thus far.

Tuesday 17 September 2013

p.An unexpected Guest - Bubble Tea

The last part is here:   Journey to the Land of Crescent Lake

I have followed my white crane's command by mastering my men and chariots for the coming battle of the Land of Crescent Lake.

At dawn this evening, I heard a large group of bugles sounded in unison. Stretching as far as my eyes can see. An army of elves marching in-step towards me. Leading the contingent was the elven king, Bubble Tea.

After half an hour or so, he reached me and bowed, "Greetings! Your Imperial Majesty."

Trying not to show any disgust, I bowed, "Greetings too! Your Majesty. What wind blows you to thee?" I always have disdain for stupid names. How can any father named his son, Bubble Tea? It is so silly sounding and no doubt, to no end, a continuous source of entertainment for both friends and foes.

Bubble Tea said, "I have come with great tidings. I come to honour the covenant once made between man and elf. The battle of the Crescent Lake is nigh. My 300,000 elves would be at your service. The ogres are strong and the strength of man is admittedly insufficient."

Things really travel fast and wide here in white land. I wondered who's the fucker who leaked this information to him.

I smiled and said, "There is no mountain too high that man cannot scale and there is no river too wide that man cannot cross. Man may be weak at times, but, truly each man will stand to fight for what he deemed to be his sacred destiny."

Bubble Tea said, "For all that were fortold by my elven high-seers. Your battle is going to be mortally challenging even for a wise king like you." I sensed his cruelty. I sensed his urgency. I sensed most of all, the crave for a blood debt.

I bowed slightly and said, "I am forever indebted to your father in the Battle of White Steps. It was he who gave me a way out of that fucken little island. He taught me well for I am now man among men. If I now take your elven army into my command, I would have broken the promise I once made to your father. I have promised that within my life-time, I will not raise another army that will risk the live of one elf, let alone thousands of elves. My hands are afraid to be stained once again by these precious blood debts."

Bubble Tea said, "Very well then, I seek your answer."

I replied, "Let's not discuss the battle on hand. Let's be merry for tonight the night only just began."

Bubble Tea is a very stubborn guy. He will stop at nothing to reach his target. I have to be very careful not to turn his army over to the ogres, the guardians and defenders of the Land of the Crescent Lake. I must draw Bubble Tea's attention towards another target. Hopefully long enough to secure my control over the Land of the Crescent Lake. But, he doesn't look as stupid as he appears to be. He must have wise council. Let me check out his elven queens in tow. If I find any smart ones, I must seduce them first, the man's pride is always his prime or is it his prick.

Saturday 14 September 2013

p.xox - I have Cancer

The last part is here:   xox - Technology as a Business-Type 

Just 5 more days to Mid-Autumn Festival. I received this terrible news from a true friend. I think I had written about her in my blog before. I really can't recall though. She has come to white land for 30 years now, at tender age of 20 yo. She couldn't find a job and she was not as educated as she would like to be. Every week, she would make a phone call to her home. She would not speak to her parents. She just cried and cried till the phone went dead due to lack of credit. She found someone she loved and married. Together they put their backs on the work and managed to grow a retail business with branches. Now she drives a very expensive car and a huge house with huge land reserve. She is without doubt a success story among immigrants.

But recently, she discovered that a part of her body grew without pain. She went to examine the x-rays. She was diagnosed with a cancer. The world around her collapsed. She now wanted to sell off all her businesses and stop.

Her perspective in life changed literally overnight. She no longer sees the need to fight that money game. She told me that without health, everything else is a joke. She then asked me if she can follow me to the east to talk to my plants and animals. I smiled.

To state it categorically:   I am no expert in the topic of cancer.

I do have loved ones who are stuck in that fucken little island who contracted cancer. Immediately after their operations, their life styles changed. They are no longer willing to push that money envelope. But, unlike the gal here in white land, that fucken little island don't give my loved ones any choice. They remained extremely driven with no ends in sight. It is indeed a sad day for me.

To me, we do have a choice as to whether we will get cancer.
  • We need to drink and eat healthily. We should never drink shit water.
  • We should exercise regularly. Yoga alone is not enough. We need regular cardio.
  • We must never work for people. We must work only for ourselves. 
  • We should deal with elements of the earth and not people. People around us give us stress. We don't need these stresses. Hence, I work only for my plants and animals.
  • I don't lie to people around me, hence, I have no need to create more lies to cover my last. This reduces my stress greatly too.
  • I don't deal with chinamen. To reduce stress, I deal exclusively with the whites. Chinamen are too poor for me. They will cheat me the moment I said go.
  • I also don't deal with the darkies. I am not a racist. They told me I will be lucky to find a darkie who lies only 50% of the time. They are at least truthful in this declaration.
  • I eat health supplements. I eat natural stuff such as 人参、 鹿茸、燕窝、魚翅、花膠(肚)、灵芝、冬虫草、鲍鱼、海参、各种中药材.
  • I drink very strong double-boil soup every 3 days.

There is no need for any one of us to create unnecessary stressors in our bodies. It is indeed a choice.

I wish this true friend a speedy recovery. If she likes, I will bring her to see me after her operation. See if I can show her my pair of peacocks.

As for the other friend, if you are reading this, please help me to get a pair of baby white porcupines and a pair of baby pangolins. You know the drill. You owed me!

Friday 13 September 2013

b.xox - Technology as a Business-Type

The last part is here:   Putting My Nose Back to the Grindstone

I have written about this for sometime now. But, it is apparent that the concept was not well-understood.

Let me just do it once and for all in a single essay.

To conduct a business, there are two categories - goods and services.

I shan't waste time on services. If you open a restaurant, that's service. If you open a law firm, that's service. If you drive a plane, that's service. If you open a clinic, that's service. If you open an accounting firm, that's service. If you open a retail store, that's service. If you open a mlm (multi-level marketing), that's service. If you open a tuition centre, that's service. If you open a hawker store, that's service. If you open a stock-broking house, that's service. If you open an insurance company, that's service (remember that CUNT who needs to deceitfully stop insurance payouts to make their director's bonuses). If you open a bank, that's service. Of course, if you are an employee, you are the mother-fucker of all services. Service business simply means it is person-specific; if you are not there on that day, your employees just have to close shop for that day. The good news about services is it is very simple to start, it is very simple to make money and it is very low on capital requirement. But, you will grind your stones (I meant balls) till the end of time.

For goods, not every good is good for you. Today, I would like to talk to you about the mistake of doing a technology business. Business is a very, very wide topic. To treat it so simply is also itself a mistake. But, please bear with me, I will do my best.

Not Good to do a Technology Business

Many times, I heard of people trying to do all kinds of technology business. They always like to bring their inventions to the table and talk until the heaven is now on earth to stay. I was once like that. Therefore, I am also only an after-event wise guy (事后孔明). So I am also a stupid ass in this arena.

In the past, I had started a technology business by recording stuff on DVDs way before any one had heard of DVDs in the market. It was a technologically advanced idea. I failed badly. I lost tons of money on people, equipment and time. People simply don't accept the idea. It was too ahead of its time. Of course, I had closed shop. Newcomers after me were extremely successful. However now, they too had closed shop.

Take another example:

Nokia started life in 1865 when a mining engineer established a groundwood pulp mill on the banks of the Tammerkoski rapids in Finland. Later through the years, Nokia made paper products, car and bicycle tires, footwear (including rubber boots), communications cables, televisions and other consumer electronics, personal computers, electricity generation machinery, robotics, capacitors, military communications and equipment (such as the SANLA M/90 device and the M61 gas mask for the Finnish Army), plastics, aluminum and chemicals. Eventually, Nokia decided to leave the consumer electronics behind in the 1990s and focused solely on the fastest growing segments in telecommunications. During the rest of the 1990s, Nokia divested itself of all of its non-telecommunications businesses.

After that, Nokia went ahead to become the largest telecoms equipment company on earth for a good 20 years; only to be fuckened by Apple and Samsung.

You can trace many other joke examples, such as Sony, Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Digital, Motorola and Yahoo. In time, you will also witness the demise of Apple and Samsung.

Technology is a product of the human mind. If 1,000 engineers work on a problem, it will produce great result. If 10,000 engineers were to work on the same problem, it will create super result. Hence, it got nothing to do with intelligence. It is a result of the number of engineers per technological product. Over time, some one from somewhere will come out with a killer technology idea to overwhelm everyone on earth. But, this is not going to last, another some one from another somewhere will come out with an even better killer technology to overwhelm the last. Just look at iPhone from Apple, it was overwhelmed within 10 years by a newcomer, Samsung. Such is the sadness of the day. Hence, you have to stop thinking technology business from now on. Anything that is remotely technical in nature, just stay clear of it. Because although your idea may be advanced at your time, it would be overwhelmed in time by others. You would then lose to your new competition and you will be fuckened to penniless again. If that is the eventual outcome, why start it in the first place.

Learn to measure your success at the temple (夫未戰而廟算勝). It is not about that one idea. It is not about that one dream. It is always about whether you have measured your success against philosophy.

It is also not money we are talking about here. But, the loss of your youth. It is pointless to work for decades on a technology idea and developed it for the benefit for mankind, so that mankind can fucken and leave you penniless after that, as if you only just started. Simply look at Japan, USA thanked Japan for producing all the wonderful technology products for the last 50 years without paying Japan back, after all USA only needs to print those colourful notes called currency and deliver it to Japan as "satisfaction of payment". In fact, that fucken little island has already delivered $300b in 2008. Now China is next in line. How wonderful ...

Thursday 12 September 2013

p.Journey to the Land of Crescent Lake

The last part is here:   早知今日事, 悔不慎当初。

The white crane perched sexily across the window sill this morning asked, "Why are you so interested to play with Lotus and Chrysanthemum all these while. Shouldn't you concentrate on the winter battle at hand?" I replied, "Since winter is still several months away, I should be well-prepared by then."

The white crane said, "The oak leaves have already turned orange. The autumn is here. Winter is but a stone throw away. The resources are gathering. So go and gather your chariots immediately and move to contact the east. When the time comes, these resources would be used for the assault of the Land of Crescent Lake."

I asked, "Shouldn't I be prepared for the assault of the Land of wicked Waterfall and go straight for the water resource instead." The white crane stretched herself to a full height and bore down on me and said, "The battle of the Land of wicked Waterfall is not nigh. You will need huge resources to assault it. Its timing must be immaculate."

I inquired, "The Land of the Crescent Lake is a huge battle. The largest battle yet. The ogres guarding it are ferocious and they don't admit foreigners. I can't even deploy spies. I have to take it only by brute-force. It is going to be an expensive war of attrition. Can I afford such a price?"

The white crane then casually replied, "Not only will this battle be terribly fought, you would also be mortally injured at the battle. But then, I might be kind enough to save you from total loss."

I swallowed hard and asked urgently, "Since it is so difficult, will I then survive the battle? Why don't I don't start the battle if at all."

She replied again in the same sardonic tone, "This battle is important as the victory of it will ensure the critical link needed to support your empire building. Japan and Germany had to start world wars in order to expand. USA has to keep starting wars to keep her people quiet. To survive, you have to continually expand. The moment you stop, you will die. Of course, all things said, it will still depend on how well you treat me from now to the battle royal. I will instruct you to expand at the correct pace and in good time."

I immediately responded by pulling her close to me and whispered a lie, "Lotus and Chrysanthemum are just my play-mates. I was never serious about them, ever since I had you."

The white crane gave me a wicked smile and said, "You might win the day again then. My Love."

Sigh ... I wondered to myself. Women are so easily satisfied with white lies. OR are they intentionally acting stupid in front of their man. Well ... I am going to miss the bosoms of my fair ladies for a while.

p.Show - 兰陵王

The last part is here:   Show - 像风一样行走

一千四百多年前,北齐、北周两王朝相争为背景,讲述了北齐传奇英雄兰陵王金戈铁马的峥嵘一生,以及其天女杨雪舞之间上演的一段缠绵悱恻、唯美动人的爱情故事。

The show is here:   兰陵王

The song is good:    手掌心

The show is nothing to cry about. It is just a good show by 冯绍峰, 林依晨, 陈晓东, 毛林林 and gang. Plenty of chance to cry with the main characters. I like 林依晨 and we all are treated to go on a journey. A journey that is full of deceit and pain. Indeed, a journey of no return.

手掌心》(电视剧兰陵王片尾曲)
作曲:V.K克 作词:陈没 演唱:丁当 歌词片段:
一干而尽 爱恨嗔痴的幻影
我敬你 一杯一干二净的黎明
我在南极 憧憬你的北极星
我等你 不信心心不相印

你是天意 你是达达的马蹄
滚滚了我的红尘 苦苦追寻冰天雪地

一寸光阴一寸心 一朵昙花一朵云
一朵雪花 一朵梦境 一一捧在手掌心
一颗尘埃一菩提 一颗流星一个你
一心一意捧在手掌心

七世夫妻 只是神话的魔镜
第七夕 只能再等一世纪
你是天地 你是风雨你是晴
你是温柔的叛逆 逆转我的一年四季

一寸光阴一寸心 一朵昙花一朵云
一朵雪花 一朵梦境 一一捧在手掌心
一颗尘埃一菩提 一颗流星一个你
一心一意捧在手掌心

偏偏我越抱越紧 偏偏我越爱越贪心
偏偏要爱到万箭穿了心 才死心

左手掌握着空心 右手掌握着痴心
十指紧扣一本心经 刻骨铭心着苦心
可不可以不甘心 可不可以不认命
如果可以 拿我换给你

Every single immigrant is sad most of the time. But, after 50 years, everything will return to normal again, as if it was only yesterday that one has just migrated.

On a journey like this, one would be sad nine parts out of ten. Every sad part is so bitter that one would have considered giving up every single round. But, life still needs to go on. Our body still needs to breathe. Breathe we must. Take a very deep breath, hold the breath for 5 counts and then breathe out slowly. Our mind will start to relax. Life is not so bad after that one single breath. It will very much prove that we are still very much alive.

For every tiny success, you pick up along the way. Learn to celebrate it on your own. Be still and quiet. Don't show off. For every failure, you take a very deep breath, telling yourself that you will be given another chance to do it again. This time you will be better prepared. Don't be sad. Smile, for you have just proven that people around are afraid to give you success.

Little things in life are important to me. I learned to take very long walk. Far from the madding crowd. I learned to eat alone. Gone with the wind. I learned to exercise alone. Lord of the Ring. I watch shows 24/7. I teared non-stopped. So what, I am not a superman. I am only human. When people poke me, wouldn't I bleed? When people curse me, wouldn't I cry. When people laugh at me, wouldn't I be sad. But, I must still stand tall and grit that teeth. I have nothing to show but myself. I can only lick my wounds every time I am injured. I can only wipe my tears every time I am sad. There is nothing between me and my land. My land don't lie and hurt me. My trees don't bite and scorn me.

Let this be the only covenant between my land and me that I am indeed home.

Let's enjoy the show ...

Wednesday 11 September 2013

b.xox - The Banks are now Fucked

The last part is here:   xox - Fuck-you up Loans 

What I have written on the last essay above was about how a bank can fuck up ordinary guys like you and me. So don't go there. Just don't do business with the bank. They are fast becoming the modern-day loan-sharks. They will employ "legal" means to fuck you up good. Even at the end of the day, you are declared a bankrupt and don't need to pay anything back. But, you are also at the same time, penniless. What they have taken from you are years if not decades of your good working life. Now that you are old and fuckened, nothing more can happen and nothing will help you.

Fractional Banking (this link will let you read in detail the idea behind fractional lending by the banks)

The bank works on fractional lending. The government-of-the-day gives the bank a license to operate. The bank then goes ahead to collect deposits. If the deposit is $100, then the bank is entitled BY LAW (of course in collusion with the government-of-the-day) to lend out a total of $1,000 (i.e., ten times that of deposit). The bank pays the depositor a very tiny interest payment such as 0.25%, i.e., $0.25. Indeed fucking low percentage, can't even pay for inflation.

But, the percentage that the borrowers of the bank loan is likely to be 4-8% p.a. for secured assets or 30% p.a. for unsecured assets.

For a secured loan of $1,000, such as against a property purchase, the borrower will need to pay an interest of $40-$80 (4%x$1000=$40, 8%x$1000=$80) while his principal is still outstanding. Over a short one-year period, the bank has made 40%-80% that of the entire deposit of $100. What a wonderful return. If the loan is unsecured, the return could reach $300 per thousand deposited or 3 times than of the entire deposit.

The bank literally created money from nothing to a lot of money. That's why the bank can afford the best-looking building in the heart of town. Just look at Rome, the magnificent buildings were all built from money made from usury.

Shouldn't we all rush to apply for a bank license. The answer is NO NO NO. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. There will come a time where everything falls flat. These loans are good only during good times. In bad times, the loans are not going to be repaid. The entire system based on fractional lending self-implode into nothingness. Banks that are hundreds of years old will close its doors. What does that brings us? Simple. It means that this business of lending is not to last. The bank owners have to be on their toes all the time. One wrong move, the fucken Tatlie Bank was gone. Another wrong move, the fucken OUI Bank was gone. One more wrong move, the fucken Keppy Bank was gone. LOL ... They are so stupid. They don't realise that there is never a free lunch on earth. Everything has to be earned from blood and sweat. Don't understand that, good luck to you and your future generations. They will be cold and deadly poor. Eating everyday from hands-to-mouths.

So therefore never apply yourself as a bank. You will not be a banker, i.e., you will not lend people money and collect interest from them. They will fail you. Avoid all things that revolve around usury. AND from the last essay, never also to borrow from people. You will also fail to repay. You will lose their trust and friendship. This form of business is doomed to fail. You will waste decades of hard work. So do things that will last you at least a thousand years, not just 50 years, like the rule of that fucken old guy.

That fucken old guy don't understand that a nation is built using bare hands. It is honest. It is pure. It is brutal. Try to be funny and sponge off other people's effort. One day, you will get your comeuppance. Just look at the amount of money lost to the whites by buying their very "cheap" stocks and shares.

Shares of Citigroup, once the nation's most powerful bank, hit an all time low of 84 cents. The stock reached an all-time high of $57 a share on Dec. 18, 2006.

And that fucken old guy thought it was dirt cheap at US$26.50 per share.

What goes around comes around. The cruel joke is that that fucken little island couldn't even keep what's theirs. All the monies made so far from hard work and sweat by selling their souls to the MNCs of the west are now returned to the west. It is a lost 5 decades.

Of course, now the fucken old guy tries to increase property prices to recoup his losses. But, to what ends, there is no such thing as man-made market. The market is free and is freely driven. Play the market's backside long enough, the market will bite your ass back in the same tempo and stupor.

Now is the time to enjoy the next big show - China

With bad loans and competition rising, China’s largest banks face tougher times ahead. ChinaScope Financial, a research firm partly owned by Moody’s, a ratings agency, has analysed how declining net interest margins will affect China’s banks. It estimates that the sector will need an injection of $50 billion-100 billion over the next two years just to keep its capital ratios at today’s level. The managements of the Big Four realise this, and have won approval from their boards to raise over $40 billion in fresh capital over the next two years. But Andrew Sheng of the Fung Global Institute, a think-tank, reckons the sector will need to raise even more later: up to $300 billion over the next five years.

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21584331-four-worlds-biggest-lenders-must-face-some-nasty-truths-giant-reality-check

– China’s bad debts could blow a $500 billion hole in bank balance sheets. That’s roughly how much extra equity the eleven biggest lenders might need if 10 percent of their loans went sour, according to a Breakingviews calculator. 

http://blogs.reuters.com/breakingviews/2013/09/04/chinas-bad-debt-could-leave-500-bln-equity-hole/

Jokes aside. Never assume that your enemy is stupid. They are not. Even if they sound and look stupid to you. Think harder. They are never what they seemed. Apply hard work on your land and you will be rewarded many times over. Forget about what others say about business ventures and great adventures. There is none. Bend that fucking back of yours and apply it to the land. Feel the ache at every living night. You will live a day longer than every one else.

I know every immigrant is sad at 9 parts out of 10. Don't despair. For on the tenth part, you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dream. People around you will fail you. People whom you cared will fail you the greatest number of times. But, why build your happiness upon others' approvals? Approve your own soul that indeed you have chosen right.

Let's just sit back and enjoy the show ...

Friday 6 September 2013

p.Growing of a Talent

The last part is here:   The reason for tradition

A rare gem is hard to find. You can try to find it all over the place, but you would be futile. In fact, most of the time, that rare gem has always been so near you that you will miss it altogether. We all try so very hard to reach the end of the world to get to that rare gem, but, we were all deceived.

For example, you travelled 10,000 miles to a new city. You were lost, so you asked for direction from a gal. The gal gave you very good directions and advice. You felt so connected. Both of you then had a good chat and the spring was in the air. But, if she told you she is 80 yo, you will feel fate is playing your backside. If she said she is only 18 yo, you will feel god has made it happened. To her, she was just doing her own things at her own playground. Nothing unusual. To you, it was 10,000 miles away. You felt fate must have played a part. Putting it the other way round, you were old and boring doing your piece of shit in your own backyard. A gal approached you for direction. You will feel good if she is 18 yo and not 80 yo. So ... please don't be so naive, and pretend that fate does play a part. It is all in your silly mind.

To say that there is no such thing as a rare gem, it is also not wrong. To say that there is, it is indeed not correct.

A gem is rare only if you try to reach it by illicit means. If you have employed honesty, the rare gem will come seeking you.

A friend once asked me, "Why don't I look further east to seek my fortune amongst the natives. These natives are honest and will not try to play the city game on me." I smiled. It was very wise words spoken by a young lad.

A blood relation asked me, "If an old fucken airport could hold a thousand people per acre and each would contribute a dollar every day to you, my old wise one, wouldn't you have no worries for the rest of your life?" I smiled too. He is smart in doing his math, with a very speedy sword. I asked him to listen to the sound of nature. If the animals and plants said that it is time, then he may develop the land for higher use. Never get excited over sounds made by man, especially that silly fucken old guy.

Thursday 5 September 2013

b.Megatrend - Depression pushing through

The last part is here:   Mega-trend - War is Needed

Australia Gold Coast Homes at 50% Below 2010 Lure Buyers

After sitting on the sidelines for two years watching home prices plummet, Rina Poke bought her ninth investment property in Australia’s Gold Coast for A$121,000 ($110,388), beating another buyer after a frantic round of bidding.

“This is definitely the time to buy,” Poke, a 44-year-old sales manager at World Gym in the Gold Coast suburb of Ashmore, said after the auction on Aug. 8 at which 16 properties were offered. “Interest rates are at an all-time low, it’s the bottom of the market and prices are on their way up.”

Buyers are finding bargains along Gold Coast’s 43-mile, high-rise-dominated resort strip, where home values have plunged as much as 50 percent in some parts since 2010 and the median price is a third below Sydney’s. Prices in the area known for its surfing beaches rose 0.8 percent in the 12 months through June, compared with 3.8 percent across Australia’s biggest cities, according to researcher RP Data.

“This has been a property crash in its truest sense, but we’ve been seeing some signals that the market is finally bottoming out,” said Louis Christopher, managing director of Sydney-based data firm SQM Research Pty. “But it’s early days.”

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s 2.25 percentage points of interest rate cuts since November 2011 pushed variable home-loan rates to the lowest since September 2009. The record-low 2.5 percent benchmark rate contributed to a 7 percent jump in home prices in the biggest cities in August since a May 2012 bottom, according to Brisbane-based RP Data.

Tourism Recovery

Helping Gold Coast home prices is the city’s tourism-driven economy, which is recovering as a 16 percent drop in the Australian dollar between April and August encourages more people to vacation at home. The number of local visitors rose 10 percent in the year to March 31, according to Queensland state’s tourism agency.

That’s driving a recovery in jobs, with the unemployment rate in Gold Coast falling to 5.7 percent as of June 30 from 6.6 percent 18 months earlier, state government data show.

Home prices could rise by as much as 10 percent in the next two years as demand increases, according to forecasts from Sydney-based researcher Australian Property Monitors and realtors Ray White Surfers Paradise and Crown Realty International.

Open Houses

Prices in Australia’s major cities are climbing, rising 7 percent in Sydney, 4.3 percent in Melbourne and 2.5 percent in Brisbane, the Queensland capital about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Gold Coast, in August from a year earlier, according to RP Data.

Housing affordability in Australia has improved over the past two years with the proportion of Australians’ income required to meet mortgage repayments at 28.7 percent, the lowest level in a decade, the Real Estate Institute of Australia said in a statement on its website yesterday.

Buyers from other parts of the country are drawn by the area’s cheaper prices, said John Newlands, Gold Coast spokesman for the Real Estate Institute of Queensland and principal at Professionals Newlands Real Estate.

“Earlier last year there was no one at open houses,” Newlands said. “Now we’re getting a bit more traction, with three to five groups showing up. And at auctions, we’re seeing multiple bidders, and even price duels,” particularly for lower-priced apartments, he said.

Gold Coast’s A$370,000 median apartment price as of June 30 compares with A$491,845 in Sydney and A$411,714 in Melbourne, according to Australian Property Monitors.

“My husband and I are always looking for a good buy in terms of location and price,” Poke said, adding that similar properties to the one she bought, in the complex where she lives, sold for almost A$200,000 in 2009. “It’s all about pre-empting booms.”

Boom, Bust

Gold Coast, proclaimed a city in 1959, benefited from Australia’s rapid post-World War II economic expansion, with domestic and international tourists and migrants flocking to its beaches and warm climate. It’s now the nation’s sixth-largest city, with a population of 538,300, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The city has ridden real estate booms and busts since the 1940s. Apartment developments surged in the 1950s and the first high-rise residential building, the 10-story Kinkabool, was constructed in 1959. With its cracked-tile stairwells and graffiti in the suburb of Surfers Paradise, it has been overshadowed by gleaming towers that have sprouted since the 1970s.

High-End Focus

The boom continued into the 1980s driven by Japanese investment, the upgrade of the city’s airport and the advent of theme parks. Property values grew virtually unabated from March 1987, when RP Data began keeping records, until the slump that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in 2008, the researcher said. The decline was more drastic and prolonged than the rest of the country as the fallout from the strong local currency and an oversupply of high-end homes planned during boom times ravaged property values.

“Developers had an increasing focus on high-end, owner-occupier units,” Cameron Kusher, senior research analyst at RP Data, wrote in an e-mailed response to questions. “The stock overhang was much larger in the Gold Coast than in most other areas of the country.”

While prices across Australia also fell, shortages of homes in Sydney and strong demand in Perth, driven by Australia’s mining investment boom, kept declines in check.

Prices in the nation’s biggest cities slipped about 7 percent from a peak about three years ago to a trough in September, according to SQM. In Gold Coast, they slumped an average 25 percent from the height of the market in January 2010, SQM figures show. Some areas had declines of as much as 50 percent and are still falling, SQM’s Christopher said.

Supply Shortage

Now, a lack of new supply will support a recovery in prices, said Tony Holland, director of residential project marketing at broker Colliers International.

“We haven’t seen any significant new construction or project activity for over three years,” Holland said in a telephone interview. “In the last 12 years, we’ve not had fewer places for sale or fewer apartments on the market than we do now.”

Fewer apartments on the market hasn’t kept sales from climbing. Unit sales rose for a fifth consecutive quarter in the first three months of 2013 to the highest level in three years, jumping 26 percent from the previous quarter and 78 percent from a year earlier, figures from Colliers show.

Inquiries Jump

The number of inquiries have tripled from a year ago, driven by low interest rates and bargain-seeking inter-state buyers, Andrew Bell, principal at the Ray White Group realtors in Surfers Paradise, said in an interview before the auction held by the broker.

Heimo Eberhardt, 66, has been on the hunt for properties on the Gold Coast for the past six months and said demand has quickly strengthened for those priced below A$500,000. So he’s moved on to more expensive ones.

“People are desperate to get into the lower end of the market, and that’s where the competition is now,” Eberhardt, who already owns two apartments on the Gold Coast, said at the auction.

Q1 Tower

At Q1, the world’s tallest residential tower until it was overtaken by the Torch in Dubai in 2011, one-bedroom apartments that were priced in the high A$200,000 range late last year are now selling for more than A$300,000, said Luke Vaughan, managing partner at Crown Realty, who markets most of the building’s apartments.

Inquiries have jumped 50 percent from a year ago and sales are up to about three transactions a month from an average of one a month in the past three years.

Some of the most expensive three-bedroom homes on the 60th floor and above, with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean from all windows, are still offered at about 25 percent less than their previous prices, he said.

A full recovery is still some time away, and while “strong, single-digit growth” is possible, it’s unlikely in the next year, Vaughan said. “We’re finding the bottom and there are some great deals to be had, but not all areas of the market have experienced the bottom.” 

This piece of news more or less validated my assessment that we are into the 16-year depression phase. It is going to be a long and hard ice age for all countries. In 2010, it is the year that the first of the baby-boomers (born of 1946) just about to retire the next year, 2011. The property prices of course are then at their highest in 2010 as there was no downward pressure. Immediately the year after, 2011, all hell broke loose. The property prices immediately retraced downwards. By now, 2013, the property in Gold Coast has retraced 50%. 

It is not difficult to understand why there is a retracement of 50%. There are simply not enough new babies to replace the older baby boomers. The prices have to stay subdue for a long, long time. No amount of QEs will ease the pain. Any country such as that fucken little island will burn itself to hell. There simply are no solution.

This depression is liken the beaching of the dolphins on mass suicide mission. It has to be done. Else, there would be too many top dogs in the food chain. It is not gonna be sustainable in the long run. Something got to give.

The wizard in Oz also practices the good news sells and the blue pill. So please don't listen too much into the opinions provided. Just focus on the news data reported. How can anyone feel good when their property prices have just dropped 50% over-night. Even if it recovers 8%, so what? It is just a rebound of only 4% in actual value. Crazy mental masturbations.

Save as much as you could afford to save. Then start to buy land globally on cash terms only. You will come out very happy. For those who don't have the private key, please think harder and deeper before one commits. From the things I read so far, the play level is only at version 0.1. Too weak. Played wrongly, it could extinguish one's life.

Tuesday 3 September 2013

g.Show - 像风一样行走

The last part is here:   Skirt Chasing - Bluff the Guy a Dream

The show is here:   像风一样行走

This is a very lousy show. Just some boy-gal-boy relationship issues. What struck me was that this kind of theme is very common.

In life, it is almost impossible to find a gal that is so truthful to a guy. If you ever find one, please learn to treasure her. You must have earned tons of brownie points in your past lives that give you this one chance in lifetime to find someone so truthfully yours. (Sigh ... so iterative ...)

If I ask if you like to grow old with me? Would you have agreed?

Let's enjoy the show ...

题都城南庄 Written on (a wall of) South Village in the Capital
唐(Dynasty Tang) 崔护
去年今日此门中(zhong), This very day last year,at this very door.
人面桃花相映红(hong)。 The pretty face outshone the peach blossom.
人面不知何处去(qu), I don't know where the beauty go,
桃花依旧笑春风(feng, ancient sound is fong)。 The peach flowers still smile in vernal breeze.

桃花庵歌
[明] 唐寅
桃花坞里桃花庵,桃花庵下桃花仙。
桃花仙人种桃树,又摘桃花换酒钱。
酒醒只在花前坐,酒醉还来花下眠。
半醉半醒日复日,花落花开年复年。
但愿老死花酒间,不愿鞠躬车马前。
车尘马足显者事,酒盏花枝隐士缘。
若将显者比隐士,一在平地一在天。
若将花酒比车马,彼何碌碌我何闲。
别人笑我太疯癫,我笑他人看不穿。
不见五陵豪杰墓,无花无酒锄作田。

Monday 2 September 2013

p.The reason for tradition

The last part is here:   早知今日事, 悔不慎当初。

Whenever my mother prayed to the ancestors, I always laughed at her silliness. These so-called ancestors were already dead for years and of no further use to our current generation. Sigh ... I was so deadly wrong.

Now as I get older and live in white land, I realized that I have all but lost my roots. I have no memories of my past. Whenever I looked at old photos, I realized there were so many things I was not aware of. Where did I come from? Why did I land in that fucken little island? Should I return to where I came from? Why am I a loser yellow?

Now is the time for mid-autumn festivity. I have but no one around me to share my joy and sadness. I don't feel sad but just a little melancholic. I have chosen to travel this path alone and I alone only can resolve its pain and joy.

Now for the slightest of things, I would wrap an angbao to wish good luck to those who wish me well. I would pray to the wind and rain for blessing my land. I thank my body for doing so many amazing things (yoga). I value each tradition and cultural festivity.

When I finally break free, I will seek my roots back in china and thank those relations that made my gene pool possible. I pray for their good health and karma.

When I left, my mother gave me an angbao. I didn't realize its value. Now whenever I looked at it, I would tear non-stop. So much well-wishing and sacrifice for a son to go forth to a foreign land in search of greener pasture. What more can a person wish for? Isn't this blessing more than enough?

My tradition is for me to remind myself of who I still am. My tradition is the beacon for me to find myself in this sea of people. Even a simple angbao meant so much to me. I beg you too to remember the very root that brought you here.

徐志摩家的月餅 
悄悄的我收了,正如你悄悄的送,
我揮一揮衣袖,來年你還送不送!

瓊瑤家的月餅
我有一塊月餅,不知與誰能共?
多少秘密在其中,送餅之人能懂。
餅外情深義重,餅內目的重重。
迎來送往懼無蹤,徒留一簾幽夢!

十五夜望月 
王建(唐)
中庭地白树栖鸦,
冷露无声湿桂花。
今夜月明人尽望,
不知秋思落谁家?